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Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida is the first attraction of the Universal Orlando Resort and was the second ever Universal theme park built after Universal Studios Hollywood. It opened on June 7th, 1990. History Looking to expand on their theme park business to the East coast, Universal chose to build it's new park in Orlando, Florida to go head to head with the popular Walt Disney World. The idea was to create a similar version of their Hollywood park as a working studio with attractions themed around the entertainment business. Many of the park's original attractions were expanded scenes from the Hollywood Tram Tour and Universal encouraged guests to "Ride the Movies." However, the park no longer advertises themselves as a working studio (though filming still occurs on occasion at the park) and has slowly moved away from the working studio theme. Events Several annual events occur at Universal Studios Florida. Throughout the spring the park hosts a Mardi Gras event that features New Orleans style food, parades and features a live performance from popular bands or artists each night. The most popular annual event in the park is Halloween Horror Nights running from late September to early November every year. The park has hosted the event since 1991 with the exception of 2002, 2003 and 2005 where the event was held at the resort's sister park, Islands of Adventure. The event was held at both parks in 2004. It usually features gory, adult-themed horror entertainment. Attraction History When Universal Studios Florida opened on June 7th, 1990 it's main attractions were mostly expanded versions of scenes from Universal Studios Hollywood's Tram Tour. Kongfrontation, Jaws and Earthquake: The Big One were all based on Tram Tour experiences. The park also introduced original attractions such as E.T. Adventure, Horror Make Up Show, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, Nickelodeon Studios and Ghostbusters Spooktacular. On opening day many attractions such as Kongfrontation, Jaws and E.T. Adventure struggled to operate correctly and many guests were given vouchers for free tickets if they chose to return. The issues with Jaws were so serious that Universal was forced to close the attraction and re-make a large portion of it, the ride didn't re-open until 1993. On May 2nd, 1991 the park opened it's first major expansion attraction, a simulator ride called Back to the Future: The Ride. The ride was popular among guests and helped raise attendance in the park's second year of operation. In 1995, Universal looked to attract more of a younger audience in the parks by opening A Day in the Park with Barney. The following year, Universal opened another major attraction in Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time and closed Ghostbusters Spooktacular. Ghostbusters was replaced by Twister...Ride it Out, which opened in 1998. Also in 1998, Universal Studios Florida officially opened Woody Woodpecker's KidZone as a way to continue to invest into more family friendly attractions. Several existing attractions such as E.T. and Barney were absorbed into the new area. The following year, the park added Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster to the area which became the first roller coaster constructed at the park. The next year in 2000, Universal Studios Florida celebrated it's 10th anniversary and opened another major attraction in Men in Black: Alien Attack. Despite additions to the resort including a second park, Universal still struggled to make profits in Orlando and as a result chose to cut down on it's operation costs by closing the popular Kongfrontation ride to replace it with something more cost effective to operate. Despite protests and outcry from fans, Kongfrontation permanently closed on September 8th, 2002. Revenge of the Mummy opened in it's place in 2004 as the park's second roller coaster. The ride cut costs and was popular with guests, making it a success for Universal. Also in 2002, Universal closed Hanna-Barbera and Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast opened in it's place in 2003. In 2005, the Nickelodeon Studios was permanently closed and the building was re-purposed as a host to the Blue Man Group in CityWalk. In 2007, Universal made another controversial move permanently closing Back to the Future on March 30th. The Simpsons Ride opened in it's place the following year. Universal also closed Earthquake in 2007 and updated the attraction into Disaster!, which also opened in 2008. In 2009, Universal opened Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, which became the park's first major outdoor steel roller coaster. In 2011, Universal closed Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast and opened Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem in it's place in 2012. The ride became the first in the building to use 3-D technology. 2012 also marked yet another controversial closure of a Universal Studios Florida classic as Jaws was permanently closed in January to make way for a major expansion. 2013 marked a year of expansion rather than closure as Universal opened Transformers: The Ride 3-D and transformed the area around The Simpsons Ride into a Springfield themed land that sold popular food, beverages and merchandise. 2014 saw one of the biggest expansions in the history of Universal Studios Florida as the park opened The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley on the plot of land that formerly hosted Jaws. The area also debuted a popular new ride titled Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. The park also debuted a Hogwarts Express attraction that took guests between the two different Harry Potter lands at both parks in the resort. Due to the ride ending with guests being transported to another park, the Hogwarts Express became the first attraction in the park's history to require a two-park ticket to ride. In 2015, Universal Studios Florida celebrated it's 25th anniversary. Universal also announced the closure of Disaster! in fall 2015 and that a new attraction titled Fast & Furious: Supercharged would open in it's place in 2017. On November 2nd, 2015 Twister permanently closed and Universal announced that Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon would replace it in 2017.